#TGIF: My travel to Yunnan, part II

As I've promised, I will continue the post from last week, about my travel to Yunnan. It's been nearly a month since, how time flies! I stopped at Lijiang, that means our next destination would be Shangri-La. I've got to be honest, the next 2 cities were not my favourite. Don't get me wrong, Shangri-La is a nice city, has its own charm but it was too cold for me, personally. I could not enjoy the nights, and because we were there near winter, it gets dark and cold really fast. 

We arrived in Shangri-La and got checked-in nearly 4pm. As per usual we rest a little before roaming around the ancient city. As soon as we step foot into the quaint ancient city, I was already in love. It was different from Lijiang, but just as charming. We spent hours in their China Post, sending postcards to our future selves, family and friends. It was an experience, and a lovely memory. This was also the start of our obsession with Luckin Coffee, lol. We bought them everyday after that.

Because Shangri-La is a bit higher up on altitude, the hotel concierge advised us not to take a shower that night, as we might get altitude sickness if we do. But lo and behold, one of us actually got sick that first night. After dinner we continue to stroll around and did our stampings, it was cold. Once we got back to our hotel room, she threw herself onto the floor and started throwing up too. At that point we knew that she might have AMS. Once again the staff at the hotel told us to bring her to the hospital as throwing up was a sign that it has gotten bad. 

We spent about 2 hours there -- through registration, consultation and treatment. My friend, Hidayah had to get oxygen for an hour to recover the AMS symptoms. The healthcare was efficient and very cheap. But we also took insurance, thankfully. We got back to the hotel by midnight. 

The next day, we started slow, wanted to have a chill morning due to what happened the previous night. Ensuring everyone had a good rest before starting the day. We sent more postcards and then took Didi to Napahai Lake. It was cloudy most of the day, the sky did not clear so that one was a bummer, regardless the place was beautiful but terribly freezing cold. I keep on checking the temperature because of how cold I felt! It was a chill place to take nice pictures but other than that, nothing much.

After 2 nights in Shangri-La, we moved to our next and final city, which was Kunming. We went back down to where we came from, and it made it easier for us to fly back home too as we depart from Kunming Airport. We spent 3 nights in Kunming and honestly this might be my "biggest" regret. Kunming was just like any cities. Buildings, malls, not so much of things to see. You surely do not need 3 nights to explore the city. You may even skip Kunming altogether. Regardless we tried to fill in our days as best we can. Lucky we found touristy things to do anyways, so it's all good. 

That first night in, we arrived from Shangri-La quite late because the train ride from Shangri-La to Kunming took us 6 hours. By the time we checked-in, it was already dinner time. On the weather, I thought Kunming would be the least cold, but actually it was not. It was still considerably cold, but a huge relief coming from Shangri-La, hahaha. I was grateful it was not as freezing! We ate halal BBQ that night and because our hotel was right above a shopping mall, it was where we spent most of our nights. 

Summarizing our days in Kunming, we managed to try a lot of halal street food, you can find plenty along Shuncheng and Nancheng street. The streets are walkable and easy to navigate too. We also had the chance to visit the mosques and prayed there. It was such a wonderful experience being able to be among a Muslim community that are far from home. Somehow you feel belonged anyways.

One of the days we went to Yunnan Ethnic Village, we spent the whole day there exploring the place. The place was actually perfect if you are into cultural and learning about the history of different ethnics in Yunnan. It has replicas of houses, and community spaces alike. It was really interesting to explore! It is a family-friendly place but you can get tired walking around. There were buggy service available so if you plan to go with little kids or elders, I would suggest to use that. We walked all the way and I think we spend about 5 hours inside. You can't find halal restaurants inside so do bring RTE food or cup noodles to get you through the visit!

After that, we walked a bit around Dianchi Park, watched seagulls over the water. Then, we took Didi to Shuncheng street and had the best halal chap fan! The closest to Malaysian food, that was what really got us. So good that we had to come back again the next day before we leave for the airport, haha.

Overall, Yunnan is a great city to visit. I was homesick halfway through but it was because I have never been away and apart for that long. Now in hindsight, I definitely would consider revisiting Yunnan. The people are nice though they don't understand an ounce of English, the ancient towns, the mountains. I miss it all already. I am deeply grateful to be able to do this, and the things I was blessed to see. It was humbling, really.

I grew up never having the chance to leave Malaysia, I can't fathom different climate or cold weather, let alone seeing snow! But now that I do, I can't really articulate how thankful I feel and honestly, how small I feel, too. There's so much greatness out there that I haven't seen and I pray that I could, one city at a time. Thank you for sticking through this whole post and the ones before this. If you're still here, thank you. I only have 2 more Fridays to go. Part of me can't wait to take a break, and restart fresh next year but another part of me is eager to plan next year's contents. 

I have more Yunnan posts on my TikTok & Instagram. Just search Attelya and you'll find me. You can also leave NGL questions, feedback, or anything at all. Feel free to interact! Till next Friday ;)